For what its worth, a friend of mine purchased the 12 guage modeland loves it. At 100 yards you can cover three bullet holes with a quarter. He is shooting the hornady sst slugs. After seeing this I recently purchased the 20 guage version of the same gun. Ive shot slugs from three different manufacturers (Winchester, Federal, and Hornady) and I cannot get any consistant grouping whatsoever. I run a bore snake through it after every shot and its still shooting all over the place.

I run a bore snake through it after every shot and its still shooting all over the place.

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What distance are you shooting at and why the boresnake after every shot? Unless you plan on doing that in the field, I'd shoot at least 10 shots through it before any cleaning at all. You may very well find better accuracy after a couple of shots. I've never tried this theory with slugs, but the theory holds water when it comes to my rifles.

HOWDY!..THINKING OF PURCHASING AN H&R ULTRA SLUG SHOTGUN,AND WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE VIEWING COULD OFFER AN OPINION..PRO OR CON ..ON THIS PARTICULAR WEAPON ...THANKS!.....KELTICCAT.

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I bought one a couple of weeks ago and after sighting in the scope, at 100yrds we was shooting Winchester rifled slugs and it absolutly impressed me. Very good shooting gun IMO and the price is good as well. The pic thru the simmons 3x9 scope didnt do it justice, but it is dead on.

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At 100 yards you can cover three bullet holes with a quarter. He is shooting the hornady sst slugs.

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Is that his claim, or have you actually laid eyes on that? Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd have to see that in person to believe it. A "quarter" covering all three holes would mean he cloverleafed them at 100 yards. I just have a hard time believing that. Not saying it's not true - I just have a hard time believing it.

After seeing this I recently purchased the 20 guage version of the same gun. Ive shot slugs from three different manufacturers (Winchester, Federal, and Hornady) and I cannot get any consistant grouping whatsoever. I run a bore snake through it after every shot and its still shooting all over the place.

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You missed the one round that I got to consistantly shoot through my H&R USH - The Remington Core Lokt Ultra Bonded Sabot Slug - 260 grain, 2 3/4". Winchester is normally my brand of choice for ammo, but it didn't make the grade through my 20 gauge USH. Leave the bore snake at home. You don't need to clean after every shot.

Cons:
H&R's customer service sucks lately. I used to really like H&R... but as of late, their customer service is going downhill fast. They wouldn't even let me talk the last time I called them. I started to explain something, and he cut me off. He wasn't listening. I started again, only to have him raise his voice to me and cut me off again. I just hung up.

Mine was extremely picky about ammo. Moreso than any other weapon I've owned. I went through several brands, shooting terrible groups before finding a brand that shot like I wanted it to. Problem is - those sabot slugs are expensive - @ $15 for a box of 5 rounds for the one I settled on.

Fit and finish of the stock and forearm was annoying. Skinny base of the receiver going into the stock, but the stock was a good 1/8" of an inch or more larger all the way around the grip area. The forearm also didn't flow smoothly into the metal rear piece - it was flush on two diag. points, and stuck out on the other two corners - kind of like it was mounted crooked. But it looked staight on the top with the barrel.

Heavy. The full bull barrel adds a lot of weight to it. At first I didn't think it would be an issue. Carry it through the woods for a ways, and you begin to notice.

Overall - neat little gun. For the price, it's a good deal, particularly in the thumbhole version. I recently sold mine to a friend who really wanted it (he's seen me shoot it, and our other hunting friend owns one), and I'm moving over to a slug barrel for my Encore instead.

Is that his claim, or have you actually laid eyes on that? Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd have to see that in person to believe it. A "quarter" covering all three holes would mean he cloverleafed them at 100 yards. I just have a hard time believing that. Not saying it's not true - I just have a hard time believing it.

Glenn

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It's possible. I used to get regular sub 2 inch groups at a hundred yards with the old style remington copper solids (they weren't swaged like they are now, the nose was drilled and cut in two ways for the hollow point.) To get an inch group wasn't rare. When getting sub 2 inch groups, you are bound to get a one hole group eventually just because of statistical probabilty especially with a large bore.

Of course, since they stopped making those slugs, my mossberg hasn't shot like that since...Now maybe a 4 or 5 inch group on a good day. I'm still getting over being burned like that....I really hate it when a good product isn't continued.

I believe his claim. My son has a 12 ga. H&R Ultraslug gun with a LimbSaver recoil pad and a 3x9 Nikon Slughunter scope with the BDC reticule. He shoots cloverleafs almost every time from a sandbagged rest at 100 yds. The sabot slug his gun likes best is the 3" Winchester Partitioned Gold . . . that is why the LimbSaver recoil pad! I have seen it with my own eyes and more than once. I can't say whether every UltraSlug shoots that well but his sure does. I even saw him shoot a 3-shot group that was basically one large jagged hole from a sandbagged benchrest but most of the time, it is a cloverleaf. The first time he did that I gave him a $100.00 bill and told him Merry Christmas now go back to the store where you bought those shells and buy every box with the same lot number you can. The $100.00 bought him 6 boxes! Not cheap but deadly accurate.

first off i like the H@R very much,but i think they are making a mistake in naming these guns anything to do with slugs,they have a rifled barrel and are made to shoot a saboted round,thats what the rifeling is for.i think you would be very lucky to find a rifled slug that will shoot very good in these guns.having said that they are like any other firearm,if you find one they like then shoot it.my 1187 shoots slightly over one inch groups at 100 yards but i shoot remington three inch mag sabots.these rounds are about 15-16.00 per box of five,i stock up on the off season and use it only during deer season.i usually fire two rounds to sight in and then what ever i need to fill my freezer,never over one box.one bullit one deer.try the sabots and see what happens then.......let us know. old semperfi

Not exactly beth, the only thing they have in common is both may be chambered in 12 guage. Slug guns have rifled bores just like a rifle and should be called rifles in the guage they are chambered in. Most shoot best with sabot type ammunition. whereas you run a sabot thru a smoothbore shotgun and your likely to hit something you werent even pointing the weapon at

From my experience, the 12 Ga. H&R Ultra Slug will shoot as good as you can hold if you spend the time and money necessary to find it's favorite slug. That said, I must also tell you that if you grabbed 10 Ultra Slugs off the production line, one after the other, there is a possibility that the sabot slug favored by each of the ten guns might differ. For example: my Ultra Slug prefers the Winchester Partitioned Gold in 2 3/4 inch, my son's Ultra Slug prefers the Hornandy SST, and my brother's Ultra Slug prefers the Brenneke 3inch KO sabot. I have no idea why this is true, I just know that it is. What this means is that if you spend the time and the money to try every length of every sabot made, you will find a favorite for your particular Ultra Slug. Once you do, you will have a real shooter in your hands. One more thing . . . make sure you shoot the slugs at 50, 100, 150, and 200 yds because unless you do you will not know which sabot performs best at all ranges in your gun. It is possible to have a sabot that makes your gun a tack driver at 100 yds but sucks at 200 yds. I know that sounds strange but take it from one who has learned the hard way, it is true. Just one more piece of advice, don't cheap-out on the scope. My brother, son, and I all use the Nikon Slughunter and they are great. Leupold, Swarovski, Zeiss, and Nikon all make quality scopes. Nikon is probably the least expensive of the bunch. I have a friend who mounted a Tasco and another who mounted a Bushnell on their slug guns and both ended-up replacing those scopes within a year. Both had good experiences with these makes on their 30-30 rifles but they appear to have failed under heavier recoil.

Until recently I lived in South Jersey where 50yds was a long shot in the deer woods. Then I moved to Wisconsin where there were numerous clear-cuts that offered shots up-to and including 250 yds. I discovered that my smoothbore Remington 11-87 that stood me in such good stead in NJ was not working in Wisconsin where I regularly hunted. I built a tree stand at the edge of a clear-cut that offered 200 yd shots so I bought a 12 Ga. H&R Ultra Slug and a Nikon 3x9 scope to go on it. A co-worker suggested that I try several different sabot slugs to see which grouped the best. What I discovered was that they all shot very well at 50 yds and that all of them would shoot well enough to kill deer at 100 yds. It was out beyond 100 yds that I started seeing a big difference. Anyway, it ended-up that my gun preferred 3" Winchester Platinum Tips with the Winchester Partitioned Gold a very close runner-up. Here is the strange thing: at 100 yds, the best performer was the 3" Federal Hydra Shok. At 100 yds I can consistently shoot either a single jagged hole or a clover leaf . . . CONSISTENTLY! But at 150 and 200 yds these sabots fall to is distant third and fourth. You really have to shoot every sabot you can lay your hands on and you have to try them at different ranges. One more thing: don't assume that the 3" sabots will out perform the 2 3/4 inch of the same variety. I found out that is not necessarily so as well. Gun to gun, make to make, model to model, and even barrel to barrel you will see different preferences. The only way to know for sure is to spend a small fortune and try them all in your particular gun. But to answer your question, I love my 12 Ga. H&R Ultra Slug. I honestly would not trade it for a truck-load of Weatherbys. I've taken 6 deer in 2 years with my Ultra Slug including a 6 point at 192 ranged yards. That 6 point didn't go 20 feet after being hit and the Platinum Tip performed beautifully at that range.

After reading all of the above posts I have to agree with "TooDamnedOld" and "BearSnot". These H&R Ultra Slug guns shoot really well once you have found which sabot slug in which length they prefer. I hunt NJ, Delaware, and Ohio every year with the same group of 4 guys (5 of us all together). We have hunted together for over 20 years now. All of us own and use 12 Ga. H&R Ultra Slug guns and together these guns have accounted for quite a bit of good meat. Last season, we took a combined 11 deer. The shots were anywhere from 20 yds to 205 yds. Those of us who prefer to hunt from stands use rangefinders so we know exactly how far we are shooting. My tree stand in Ohio is located at the edge of a large field and offers shots from 20 to 250 yds. My Ultra Slug prefers the 3" Winchester Partitioned Gold for shots over 100 yds. If I get shots at 100 yds or less, I use 3" Federal Hydra Shok. Since the majority of shots I get are 100 yds or less, I usually keep my gun loaded with the Federal Hydra Shok but switch to the Partitioned Gold if a more distant shot presents itself. Since I hunt from a pretty plush tree stand, when the deer is farther away there is never a problem changing shells . . . ah, the beauty of a tree stand!

Anyway, each of our guns have a definate preference in which is the favorite sabot slug. One prefers 3" Winchester Partitioned Gold. one prefers 3" Remington Accutips, one prefers 2 3/4" Remington Copper Solids, one prefers the Lightfield EXP Sabots, and one Prefers the 3" Brenneke KO sabots. All of our guns are capable of shooting clover leafs at 100 yds from a sandbagged benchrest, with their favorite sabots. These Ultra Slugs are real shooters once you have found their favorite sabot slugs.

I have four suggestions based on what we have learned: (1) mount the best scope you can afford on your Ultra Slug, (2) if you are going to be taking longer shots, get a good rangefinder, (3) test your Ultra Slug with different sabot slugs at different ranges before you go into the field, (4) put a good LimbSaver recoil pad on your Ultra Slug before your first trip to the range. Over 15 years of combined experience using H&R Ultra Slug guns have taught us these things so learn from our experience rather than the hard way.

By the way, none of us would consider parting with our Ultra Slug guns. I used to hunt with a Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel and rifle sights. On a really good day, I might get a 7" 3-shot group at 100 yds with that mossberg if I shot from a sandbagged benchrest but I always wanted that backup shot. Now I realize that after the first shot, the deer is usually either down or gone. Accuracy on the first shot is what puts meat in the freezer . . . not spraying the woods or fields with slugs. I traded that Mossberg 500 in on my Ultra Slug setup and believe that it was one of the best moves I've ever made as far as deer hunting is concerned.

So, bottom line is this: I feel that the 12 Ga. H&R Ultra Slug is the most undervalued slug gun currently available on the market. If you get one and put the time and money into rigging it right and testing to find it's favorite sabot (make AND length) you will have a deer gun you will NEVER want to part with!